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CONTENTS.
PART I.
CHARGES AGAINST UNITARIANS.
LETTER I.
Value and objects of Controversy in advancing Truth and Practical
Religion.
ADVANTAGES of religious controversy, or discussion, p. 1. The Saviour,
Apostles, and primitive Christians were controvertists, 3. Reformation
established by controversy, 5. One class of Christians to whom religious in-
quiry can be of no service, 8. Three general topics of religious controver-
sy, 9. The first pertains to Church government, ib. The second to articles
of faith, 11. The third to the influence of opinions on practice, 15. To
this latter branch of controversy the present work will be chiefly confi-
ned, 17.
LETTER II.
Causes of Divisions and Discords among Christians.
The christian religion less effectual on the character of its professors, than its
purifying tendency warrants us to expect, 21. Causes of divisions among
Christians in early times, 22. In later times, 23. Fondness of Christians
to control the faith of their brethren, 25. Origin and early influence of
creeds, ib. Produced discord, 26. Two grand axioms of the Reformation,
29. Soon deserted by the early reformers, 30. False notion of the unity
False mode of interpreting
Unhappy influence of creeds
of faith, 31. Scriptural view of this unity, 32.
the Scriptures adopted by the reformers, 33.
after the Reformation, 34. Heresy, 37. Just remarks of Hoadly, 38.
Extent of a true christian faith, 39.
tolerance, 41. Its baleful effects, 42.
nor concerns of religious societies, 44.
christian church have arisen from principles opposed to Unitarianism, 46.
Evils of orthodoxy, 48.
Believing too little, 40. Spirit of in-
Influence of creed making on mi-
Disorders and wickedness in the
LETTER III.
On Charges against the Character of Unitarians.
Singular mode of attacking Unitarians, 50. Charges specified, 52, 53. Per-
tain to moral character, 54. Dr Priestley's authority improperly quoted,
55. Charges unfounded, 56. Rashly applied, 57. Unitarians as moral
and pious as other sects, 59. Unitarianism is embraced at the expense of
many sacrifices, 60. The charge of immorality against Unitarianism ex-
tends to some of the greatest and best men, whom the world has known, 61.
Many names enumerated, and testimonies quoted, 62, 63. Watts and Whitby good men after they became Unitarians, 64. Folly of rash charges against christian brethren, 65. Better to turn them from their errors by per- suasion a nd kindness, ib.
LETTER IV.
Charges against the Opinions of Unitarians.
Value of mutual discussion, 66. An attack on character, motives, and con-
duct, likely to be repelled with warmth, 68. Sincerity of Unitarians, 69.
Broad difference between charges against character, and against opinions,
70. Immorality consists not in opinion, but acts, 71. Mischievous effects
of misplaced censures, ib. Unitarians desire only to read the Scriptures and
worship God, as their consciences direct, 72. In this exercise no one has a
right to interfere with them, 73. They have charged no sect with immo-
rality, ib. Unitarians accused of denying the essential doctrines of the
christian religion, 74. Topics to be discussed; first, christian name and cha-
rity; secondly, trinity and atonement; thirdly, moral influence of Calvinism;
fourthly, sentiments and morals of English Unitarians, 75, 76.
PART II.
CHRISTIAN NAME AND CHARITY.
Import of the Christian Name, and the Evils of confining it to
particular Sects.
Names how far to be regarded, 77. Important when they affect the reputa-
tion of those to whom they are applied, ib. The name Christian is dear
to every professed believer in Christ, 78. First applied at Antioch, 79.
Has two significations as pertaining to faith, and practice, ib. Injustice of
denying this name to Unitarians, 80. Hartley's definition of the term
Christian, 81. President Davies' remarks on the christian name, 82. No
warrant in scripture for calling any of our brethren no Christians, who
claim to be followers of Christ, 83. False estimate of the essence of
christianity, 84. Bishop Watson quoted, ib. Every sect may with equal
justice deny the name of christian to all others, 85. Consequences of ex-
ercising this liberty, 86. Hostile to peace and goodness, 87. Unitarians
have been the ablest defenders of christianity, 88. Lardner, Clarke,
Priestley, Chandler, Lowman, Whiston, Foster, Clayton, Hoadly, Wake-
field, and a host of others, have written in express defence of the christian
religion, 90. American Unitarians, who have written in defence of chris-
tianity, 94. Excellent treatise of Socinus, 96. Absurdity of denying to
these men the christian name, 97. Emlyn quoted, 98. Popish infallibility
outdone, 99. Chillingworth, 100. Bold assumption magisterially to decide
on the faith of another, ib. An encroachment on Christian liberty, 101.
On Charity as explained in the Scriptures, and practised by the first
Christians.
Charity earnestly inculcated by the Saviour and Apostles, 101. Calvinistic
notions of charity, 102. Inconsistent with other principles of Calvinism,
B
103. Scriptural meaning of the word charity, 105. Three general signifi→
cations, 106 In its common acceptation it relates to the thoughts, feelings,
and actions of men in their mutual intercourse, 107. Essential difference
between charity and love, 109. This illustrated by examples from scripture,
110. Evil consequences of making charity and love the same, 111. Cha-
rity has its origin in the imperfections of men, 112. Its proper exercise is
exclusively towards errors and innocent defects, ib. It relates to opinions
more than to actions, 114. Curious quotation from Dr. Brett, 115. Reli-
gious persecutions have arisen out of a want of charity to the opinions of
sincere christians, 117. Our Saviour censured no man for what he thought
or believed, 119. He condemned the Pharisees for their wicked conduct,
and not for their erroneous opinions, 120. Exclusive notions of charity
prevent free inquiry, 121. Texts explained, by which some christians
think themselves justified in calling others heretics, 122. Whitby and Le
Clerc, 125. Unitarian views of charity, 128.
PART III.
TRINITY AND ATONEMENT.
Various Opinions concerning the Trinity.
Trinity and Atonement considered doctrines of the first importance by their
advocates, 129. A faith in them is said to be essential to salvation, 130.
Necessary to know what they are, 131. Trinity held in an infinite variety
of forms, 132. Bishop Stillingfleet speaks of five general ones, 133. Ano-
ther writter tells of forty, ib. Scholastic mysticism of Cheynel, 134.
Sherlock, Barrow, South, and Waterland, 135. Various opinions of seve-
ral English divines on the trinity, 136. Modal and tripersonal trinities, 140.
Mystical trinity, 141. Tripersonal trinity defined, 142. Strange language
of Dr. South, ib. A mystery cannot be plainly taught in the Scriptures,
144. Modes of the divine existence, 145. As various as the attributes of
God, 146.
Doctrine of a Trinity not taught in the Scriptures.
Trinitarians discourse of the plainness with which their doctrine is taught in
the Scriptures, 149. This is a modern notion 150. The Jews never found the
trinity in the Old Testament, 151. The people to whom our Saviour
preached understood no such doctrine, 152. The Apostles preached it not,
154. Many of the early trinitarian Fathers expressly state, that the doc-
trine was not found in the Scriptures, 155. They believed it was kept out
of the Bible for wise purposes, 156, Bishop Horsley's unavailing attempt
to weaken their testimony, 158. Distinguished writers in the Catholic
church have declared the trinity not to be a doctrine of scripture, 159. The
same has been proved by learned Arminians, 162. By Watts and other
English divines, 164. Trinity entirely a doctrine of inference, 167. Has
no authority, nor value, as an article of faith, 168. Jeremy Taylor on
articles of faith, 169. Origin of the trinity, 170. Rammohun Roy, 171.
Moral Tendency of a Belief in the Trinity.
This doctrine injurious to morals and piety in proportion as it gives us wrong
notions of the Deity, 172. Its iniquity consists in its consequences, 173. De-
stroys the simplicity, and divides the object of worship, 174. Unitarians
worship God, as one being, Trinitarians as three, 176. Trinity deprives
God of his glory by elevating the Son above the Father, 177. Makes the
example of God without force, 178. Dangerous tendency of the doctrine
of two natures, 180. Humility of Christ, 181. Dr. Channing quoted, 182.
Trinity deprives the death of Christ of all force as an argument in favour
of a future resurrection, 183. Renders this death unavailing as a motive
to obedience and holiness, 184.
General Remarks on the Doctrine of Atonement, with a brief out-
line of the Opinions of Unitarians on this Subject.
Object and importance of the doctrine, 186. Charge against Unitarians con-
cerning this doctrine, 187. Belief in it not essential to salvation, 188.
Such a belief must be the same in all, but in the case of the atonement it
is not, 189. Unitarians regard the death of Christ as in the highest degree
important, 192. Unitarian views of atonement, 193. Polish Socinians, ib.
Unitarians at Geneva, 194. In England, Emlyn, Clarke, Taylor, Price,
Priestley, 195. In the United States, Dr. Channing, Dr. Ware, Evangeli-
cal Lutheran churches, 197. Three general opinions on atonement, 199.